Always
by Cassie Bones
Summary: What if the Castle crew had met in the First Grade? How would their lives have been different? Would Castle and Beckett have gotten along as children? How would the path their lives took have been different. These will all be answered (in theory) when you read this Fic. This is my first shot at Castle FF so be kind.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first shot at a Castle Fic. It's completely AU because I love doing stuff like that and I'm good at it. Before now, I've done primarily Bones Fics (please don't hold that against me; it's a good show and I stand by it) and I had a failed attempt at a Gilmore Girls Fic. Anyway, this will be a "What if the Castle characters had met in Grade School?" take. It will start when they are six and in first grade (they're all the same age in this, except for Gates and Montgomery, who will be whatever age they were in the show) and it will go on until they're adults. Hopefully, I will be able to stick with this one. Enjoy!**

**Always**

**Chapter One**

"Richard Alexander Rodgers, you stop running right this instant!" Martha Rodgers scolded her young son, who had paused, mid-step, at his mother's stern voice. He knew when enough was enough and although he loved testing his eccentric mother's patience he knew that he wouldn't get away with it just that moment.

It was Richard's, nicknamed Rick, first day of first grade, as well as plenty of other New York City children. As Martha marched down the hallway with her son hustling to keep in step with her on his short legs, she noticed a complete lack of other children, which was odd.

It probably would not have been so odd to her had she been on time.

Martha was looking at a paper in her hand, her eyes scanning the classroom numbers as they passed until they reached the one she was looking for; room 147.

"Ah, here it is!" she exclaimed, happily. "Richard, come back here!" The young boy had walked too far, too preoccupied with jumping on all the black floor tiles and pretending that the red ones were lava to notice that his mother had stopped at his assigned class. His blue eyes flashed with amusement at his mother's annoyance as he hopped back to her.

He made a show of hopping back and then bowing low when he reached his mother, chuckling at her headshake. Martha couldn't suppress a smile, though, and he affectionately stroked her son's cheek. "Whatever am I going to do with you?" she said, smiling down at him.

Rick's bright blue eyes lit up. "You could sell me to the circus! I could be a clown or a tightrope walker, or, or-"

"Richard, hush darling," Martha said, rubbing her head as she knocked on the classroom door.

The door was answered by a middle-aged, African American man, with soft brown eyes and a warm smile. "Hello," he greeted, smiling down at Rick, who had his hands folded in front of him, looking like a perfect little angel, "and how may I be of service to you, Ma'am?"

Martha smiled. "Hello, there," she said, "I'm Martha Rodgers and this is my son, Richard. It says here he's been put into this class. You're Mr. Montgomery, I presume?"

The man nodded. "That I am. Nice to meet you, Mrs. Rodgers-"

"It's _Miss_, actually," Martha corrected, "but you can just call me Martha. I hate titles."

Rick rolled his eyes, discreetly, still smiling up at Mr. Montgomery, who grinned down at him.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Martha, and you as well, Richard." He reached out to shake the young boy's hand and Rick responded, enthusiastically.

"You can call me Rick," he informed the teacher, "everybody does. I don't like the name Richard."

Martha nudged him with her elbow. "Richard is a wonderful name," she defended, "and you should be so lucky I didn't go with my other choice of _Fitzwilliam_."

Rick grimaced and Montgomery laughed. "That would have been unfortunate, hmm?" He said, patting the young boy's shoulder. "Hey, why don't you go in and introduce yourself to your classmates while your mother and I talk about your supply list?"

Rick shrugged. "Okay," he said, strolling past his mother. Martha grabbed his arm, though, and pulled him back to her in a bone-crushing hug.

"Have a good day, Sweetheart," she said into his hair, "I have to work tonight but Consuela will pick you up in the front after school."

Rick groaned; Consuela, his new nanny, smelled like sweat and burnt bread and often fell asleep when they got home, forcing him to prepare his own dinner (usually Peanut Butter & Jelly) and entertain himself until bedtime.

"Oh, don't make that noise," Martha scolded, "at least she's better than Nanny Nancy." The mention made Rick shudder and Martha giggled, kissing his cheek. "I'll see you later, Baby. Now go make some new friends!" She pushed him back into the classroom and Rick walked in, spotting the play corner right away.

His classmates were scattered around the room, a few at their desks, organizing their supplies, and other talking in pairs or groups, and some were in the play corner. The Play corner took up at least a quarter of the large room where the floor was covered with a large, square rug, with shelves that held books and toys, bins that held blocks, Legos, trucks, you name it. There were a few children there, playing with toys and board games. But there was one little girl laying on a couch, a book propped up on her flat belly, her greenish-hazel eyes completely absorbed in the story, her face serious as she read the words on the page.

Rick smiled at the girl; never had he seen somebody else his own age read a book with such intensity-he didn't even know anybody else could read! Rick, himself, had been taught how to read when he was just four years old by his favorite Nanny, Penny, who'd been an Adolescent Psychology major in college and who'd nanny'd him as a way of paying off her student loans. She had loved teaching the little boy new things, like reading, writing, and counting, and had spent mornings with him in the library, picking out her favorite children's books and sitting with him in her lap, helping him sound out the words. Now, at six years old and in first grade, Rick was at a grade five reading level. He wondered about the girl's reading level. There was only one way to find out.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Six-year-old Kate Beckett was never scared; not of clowns or the dark or even of the Doctor's sharp needles when he had to give her a shot. Though she did tend to feel her stomach flipping and her heart beat quickening at all of these things. But that wasn't fear; she told herself, that was nerves. Yes, Kate Beckett did not get scared; she did, however, feel nervous on occasion.

Like now; Kate was nervous about her first day of first grade. She grasped her mother's hand with such strength that Johanna Beckett thought she might have to use a pry bar to release her daughter's hold when they arrived at room 147 at JFK Elementary in Lower Manhattan.

"Katie, honey," she said, chuckling, "you're cutting off my circulation."

Kate looked up, confusion written in her eyes as she blinked up at her mother. "Huh?" she said.

Johanna chuckled. "Let go of my hand, Baby," she said, shaking their conjoined hands until Kate let go, looking very embarrassed.

"Sorry," she said, and Johanna smiled warmly down at her, kneeling down to pull her little girl into her arms, hugging her tightly. Kate responded in kind, wrapping her arms around her mother's neck and burying her face into her chest.

"You nervous?" Johanna asked, knowing better than to ask if Kate was scared, knowing how the child got if fear was insinuated.

Kate nodded. "I'll be fine," she murmured into her mother's sweater. "Javi and Kevin are gonna be there, right?"

Johanna nodded, smiling. Javier Esposito and Kevin Ryan were two of her best friends' sons. They were also Kate's best friends, and like surrogate brothers to her. The three had been inseparable since little Kevin's birth. They had play dates almost weekly and had been in the same Kindergarten and Preschool classes. Javier acted like a bodyguard to Kate and they both acted like older siblings to Kevin, who was the youngest and most impressionable. Kate's other best friend, Lanie Parish, who was her only girlfriend, was also in the class, which Kate was very excited about. She'd only met Lanie the previous year, in Kindergarten when Lanie's family moved to Manhattan from St. Louis, but the two had become quick friends.

Johanna couldn't see Lanie as they walked into the classroom, Kate's arm wrapped around her mother's leg, but she could see Javi and Kevin playing together on a large carpet in the corner. She nudged Kate and pointed, grinning at the large smile that spread across her daughter's face.

"You gonna be okay, now?" she asked, running her fingers through Kate's long, light brown hair, which was tied half-up in a French braid. Kate nodded. Johanna smiled. "Good. Now give me a kiss." Kate leaned up and kissed her mother on the cheek, hugging her neck.

"I love you, Mommy," she said, hugging tightly.

Johanna closed her eyes against tears that threatened to spill. "I love you, too, Katie," she said, kissing her daughter's forehead, before straightening, watching as Kate ran over to the carpet to greet her friends.

"Vroom! Vroom!" Javi was saying as Kate came up behind the boys. They were playing with toy trucks, smashing them together and pretending to have high-speed chases with them. Kevin's car was currently being chased by Javi's and Javi kept smashing his car, forcibly, into his.

"Hey!" Kevin whined. "Javi! Stop it! That's not fair!" He looked up to see Kate approaching. "Kate! Kate, Javi's cheating!"

Kate frowned and shoved Javier's head softly. "Stop cheating!" she scolded.

Javier's brown eyes widened, innocently. "I _wasn't_!" he defended. "Kevin's just a sore loser!" he stuck his tongue out at the boy, who returned the favor.

Kate sighed. "You two play nice!" She ordered, "Or else you both get time outs!"

Kevin frowned. "Hey! What did _I _do?" he whined.

Kate just shook her head and started making her way over to one of the bookshelves; she'd learned how to read in Preschool and had read every single book she could get her hands on ever since. Now, she spotted one of her favorites.

As Kate walked away Javier glowered at her back, and then stuck his tongue out. Kevin looked shocked, and Javier fixed his glare on him. "Say anything and you're dead," he warned. Kevin stayed silent.

Kate picked up the book with a smile and made herself comfortable on the couch adjacent, resting the book on her tummy as she turned to the first page, her eyes focusing on the words as she let herself fall into the magical world of Wonderland.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Rick walked slowly and quietly over to the girl reading on the couch, step over a couple of wrestling boys on the way (the darker-skinned of the two currently had the blue-eyed one pinned beneath him with his arms held behind his back).

He stood about two feet away from her, just staring at her, waiting for her to notice him, observing. The girl had light brown hair and bright green-hazel eyes that were focused solely on the book in her hands. Her hair was half up in some sort of complicated braid and she was wearing a purple shirt and a pair of jeans, embroidered with daisies on the thigh. She had on a simple pair of sneakers.

She was pretty-for a girl, at least. Martha had told Rick never to end his sentences like that when actually talking to a girl, but just _thinking_ it was okay, right?

"Why are you staring at me?" the soft, melodic voice startled Rick from his thoughts.

"What?" he said, blinking, realizing, for the first time, that the girl's eyes were no longer focused on the pages of her book, but, rather, on him.

"I said, 'Why are you staring at me?'," the girl repeated, not unkindly.

"Oh!" Rick blushed. "No reason. I just…I thought I was the only one who could read. I mean, the only one our age." One of the girl's eyebrows lifted, which Rick thought was neat; he couldn't raise just one eyebrow, no matter how hard he tried. "So," he said, trying to break the awkward silence that had fallen over them, "watcha readin'?"

"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," she answered, "it's my favorite book."

Rick smiled. "Yeah, it's good. My favorite is the Wizard of Oz, though."

The girl's eyes lit up. "Oh, I love that one! My favorite is the Scarecrow! How about you?"

"I like the Witch," Rick said, smiling.

"Which one? Glinda?"

Rick shook his head. "Nope. The green one; the Wicked Witch of the West. I love her!"

"What? But she's the bad guy! She tries to take Dorothy's shoes!"

"Could you really blame her, though? Those shoes were her sister's. For all we know Glinda could have stolen them from her and then just given them to Dorothy to make the witch mad. She could be the victim!"

The girl laughed laughed. "You're crazy," she said, smiling at him.

Rick shrugged. "Ya learn to live with it." Kate laughed again and Rick smiled. "My name's Rick, by the way. Rick Rodgers."

The girl smiled. "My name's Kate Beckett. Nice to meet you." She sat up and put her hand out. Rick shook it, grinning widely. Kate blushed, before nodding at the two boys wrestling on the carpet. "Those _dimwits _are Javier Esposito and Kevin Ryan. Say hi, boys."

The boys stopped wrestling for a moment to look up at Rick.

"Hi," Kevin said, politely.

"Who are you?" Javier asked.

Kate rolled her eyes. Rick laughed.

"My name's Rick. Rick Rodgers," he said.

Javier eyed him up and down. "Nice to meet ya," he said, before pinning Kevin to the ground again, bringing his arm to rest at an awkward and uncomfortable angle above his head. "Say 'Uncle'!" he ordered.

"Ahh!" Kevin called out. "Kate!"

Kate sighed and stood up, walking over to the boys and pulling Javi's shirt, practically tossing the boy off of Kevin like it was nothing, then helping Kevin to his feet. "You okay, Kev?" she asked. He nodded, his blue eyes blinking away tears. Kate pulled him into an affectionate hug, glaring at Javi over Kevin's shoulder. "You have to be careful with him!" she yelled. Javier had the decency to look ashamed, staring down at his knees, pouting.

Kate let go of Kevin and looked over at Rick, rolling her eyes. Rick chuckled.

"Listen up, everybody!" the teacher called, gaining everybody's attention. "It's time to take your seats! They all have your names on them, so as to avoid confusion! You're all paired in twos. You will have a partner for the entirety of the year, with whom you will work on projects and _experiments_ with! Now, hurry up and get in your seats so we can get started!"

Kate, Rick, Javi, and Kevin all started towards the desks, looking for their names. Javi and Kevin were happy to see that their names were together and high-fived as they took their seats.

Kate and Rick were still looking for their names when Kate heard a familiar voice calling out her name.

"Kate!" Lanie shouted from the doorway, before leaving her mother's side to race toward her best friend. Kate smiled at her and opened her arms, embracing her friend in a fierce hug.

"There you are!" Kate exclaimed. "I was wondering when you were gonna get here!"

Lanie giggled. "Momma took the wrong subway again. We ended up in Chinatown!"

Kate giggled. "Well at least you're here now. Come on, we gotta find our spots." Kate took Lanie's hand and the two continued searching for their spots, Rick trailing behind them.

Lanie found her spot, quickly, and was ecstatic to find that Kate's was just across the aisle, so they could talk to each other easily. Rick then found that his seat was the one that adjoined Kate's and found he was happy with that arrangement.

"Hey," he said, grinning, "looks like we're partners now."

Kate nodded. "Looks like it," she said, smiling.

Rick tipped an invisible hat towards her and spoke in what he thought was a Western accent. "Well, it's nice to meet you then, Pardner…" He stuck out his hand and Kate just stared at it.

"You are _so_ weird," she said, shaking her head.

**REVIEWS would be very nice, yes?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Update!**

**I have decided that I will make the chapters go month by month so that each year will be twelve chapters. I will make this one in September though. Enjoy!**

Chapter Two-September

Their first project game about a week later.

It was simple; all they had to do was read a book and write a report on it and make a diorama of one of the most important scenes in the book. The problem for Rick and Kate, however, was which book to choose.

Kate wanted to do _Harry Potter_. She'd just finished the first in the series and thought that Harry and the mirror of Erised would be a great scene to remake. Rick, however, wanted to do The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe.

"How do you even know that story?" Kate asked when he'd suggested it.

"My mom read it to me…dramatically, of course," he said, smiling, "it's awesome, Kate! There's this guy and he lives with some old man but he's got this weird eye that makes the guy go all crazy, so he kills him! And then he hides the body under the floorboards and he starts hearing the heart go, "Pump-pump, pump-pump!" and it drives him even more crazy than the weird eye! He tries to ignore it, but he can't. Then, one day, the police come, looking for the old man and the guy tries to stay calm, even as the heart keeps on pumping in his ears and getting _louder_! Finally it gets so loud that he can't even hear the cops anymore and he finally breaks down and confesses to killing the old man! He tells them where to find the body and everything!" Rick takes a deep breath, having explained the whole story in one breath, making wild arm movements, reminding Kate that his mother was a famous Broadway actress. She shook her head at him.

"That doesn't sound like a good story to tell our class," she says, "too much death."

Rick's face falls. "Aw, come on, Kate! It's really good, I promise! And only _one_ person dies! Plus the confession scene would be really fun to remake, don't you think?!" Kate still looks reluctant so Rick gets on his knees, dramatically, in front of her, "Pleeeeaaaassssseeee, Kate? Pretty please with cherries on top?" His begging blue eyes look up into her hazel ones and she relents.

"Fine!" she sighs, "But _you_ have to write the report; I'll make the diorama."

Rick pouts. "Then what's the point?" he moans.

"The point is I'll let you read the report for the class and even present the diorama."

"Can I reenact the scene?" he asks, hopefully.

Kate rolls her eyes. "Sure…why not?" she says, shaking her head.

Rick brightens up at that and stands. "I'm gonna hold you to that," he promises.

Kate shakes her head.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

When the day for their presentation arrived, Kate arrived first at school with the diorama in hand. Her father carried his backpack for her while she carried the cut up shoebox her father helped build into the front hall of a large, 19th century Manor house. They'd cut one of the sides off of the box and made two levels, with a small piece of fitted wood to act as the floor. Underneath the floor they placed a clay body that was supposed to be the old man, and above him was the protagonist of the story on his knees in front of two policemen, clad in blue, confessing to his crime. Kate and Jim Beckett spent at least three hours on it. It looked fantastic and almost as soon as Kate had placed it on her desk, Javier and Kevin were approaching her, their own project being carried by Javi.

"Hey, Kate!" Javi greeted, setting down their Wizard of Oz diorama of Dorothy, the Cowardly Lion, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Man meeting the Wizard. It was mostly just a background drawing of the Wizard's head and a few messy clay characters, but it was still pretty good. The boys were mesmerized by her own diorama, acting like it was a piece of art.

"That must have taken _forever_!" Kevin said, looking at all the detail.

Kate shrugged. "Not really; Daddy did a lot of the hard stuff. I just made the people."

"Still, it looks awesome!" Javi said.

Kate smiled, proudly. "Thanks! Have you guys seen Rick? We're supposed to present first today."

Javi and Kevin shook their heads.

"I saw him in the hall," Lanie said, coming up to stand beside her friend. Lanie had already presented her project. She'd chosen a Fairytale; Little Red Riding Hood and had even worn a red cloak for her presentation while her partner, Sidney, had put on a wolf mask and gloves. Montgomery had applauded their creativity and promised them both good grades.

Kate and Rick hadn't planned anything like that, but knowing him, he-

"Oh, no…" Kate moaned as she looked over Lanie's shoulder as Rick entered the classroom, dressed as Edgar Allan Poe, complete with a Raven in his hands. He waved to her and she buried her face in her hands.

Lanie, who'd already seen him, patted her friend's shoulder, sympathetically.

Javi and Kevin smiled and tried to hold back laughter as Rick approached, practically choking each other to keep from falling over.

"Hey, guys!" Rick greeted, grinning widely, "Like my costume?! I'm Poe!"

Javi fell over in hysterics, pulling Kevin down with him. Rick frowned.

"What?" he asked, "Lanie and Sidney dressed up!"

Lanie shook her head. "Rick, all I did was put on a red cloak and Sidney wore a mask and gloves! We didn't come to class wearing our costumes! I hope you have a change of clothes, crazy boy."

Rick shook his head. "Nope. I couldn't fit them in my backpack. Besides, these clothes are awesome! You like my raven?" he held up the stuffed bird, making Kate and Lanie roll their eyes at him.

"Okay, class, it's eight-thirty!" Montgomery called out. "You know what that means! Seats!"

Javi and Kevin shot up and raced to their seats with their diorama, while Lanie took her seat across the aisle from Kate, who couldn't take her eyes off her ridiculous partner.

They went through the usual morning routine; handing in their spelling and math homework, writing down and handing out the new homework, then doing their morning math exercises before it was time for English.

Montgomery took out his seating chart to see who was next to present. "Rick and Kate," he called, "come on up!"

Rick beamed and raced up to the front with their report while Kate lugged the diorama up, setting it on the teacher's desk.

"For our book report we read, The Tell-Tale Heart, by Edgar Allan Poe," she announced, before stepping back and letting Rick start the book project.

"_The Tell-Tale Heart, by Edgar Allan Poe, is about a man, who does not have a name, who lives with an old man with a clouded blue eye that creeps the guy out." _There are snickers at this line. "_The eye creeps out this guy so much that he plans to kill the old man, claiming that he loves the old man but the eye just creeps him out too much."_ More snickers. _"So he plans for seven days, visiting the old man's room every night to shine a light in his eye. But every night the eye is closed and so the guy has no reason to kill the old man. But on the eighth night, the eye is open and the old man's heart is beating wildly with fear. The guy attacks! He smothers the old man until he is no longer breathing, then di-dismembers him _(that means he cuts off his arms and legs)_ and hides them under the floorboards, cleaning up all the evidence. The next day police arrive, saying that a neighbor complained about a scream. It was the old man who screamed but the guy says it was him who screamed because he had a nightmare. He shows the police the old guy's room and says he's not there and that he's out of the country. He even sets three chairs over where he hid the body, but as he talks to the police he starts to hear a heart beating. The cops don't seem to hear it, but it keeps getting louder and louder and louder. It's gets so loud that the guy can't take it anymore and he confesses to killing the old man. The end._" Rick smiles at the class as they clap.

Montgomery smiles. "Very good, Rick. And just why do you think the narrator heard the heart beating?"

Rick shrugs. "I guess he felt guilty," he answers, "for killing that old man."

Montgomery nods. "I think so, too. Now, what scene did you two make?"

Kate smiles and turns the diorama to face the class. "It's the confession scene, where the narrator is telling the cops what he did. You see, there's the body under the floorboards. I made it look like the arms and legs aren't attached, you see?" she shows them the body. Montgomery smiles and nods.

"Good work, Miss Beckett. A-plus! You two can take your seats now. Oh, and Mr. Rodgers…nice costume." Rick beams at him and smiles at Kate.

Kate just shakes her head and walks back to her seat, depositing their project on the windowsill and handing the report to Mr. Montgomery on the way.

Rick gets there first and places the Raven on her desk. Kate finds it there and looks at him. He smiles at her. "Keep it; it's not the only one I have."

Kate laughs. "Why am I not surprised?"

Rick sends her a mock annoyed look, before turning back to watch Javi and Kevin give their report.

Kate strokes the fake bird absently as she watches.

**So, I lost a reader because I started writing for Castle. I don't really care, though, because I really like this show and though I loved Bones first, I will not abandon this fandom. Bones and Castle are both great shows and neither one of them copies the other (just so that is clear to EVERYBODY) because they are really not the only crime shows on television, not now, not ever. They both have original material and both derive from past shows and hey, that's fine. Almost all shows do that. I really wish this stupid war between the fandoms would just be over now. It's pointless. Anyway, let's just move past my little tirade and REVIEW, shall we?**


	3. Chapter 3

**Happy Halloween, everybody! Enjoy!**

Chapter Three—October

Kate had her nose stuck in a book, like every morning, but _this_ morning she could almost feel a pair of eyes burning a hole through the book. She ignored Rick for as long as she could, trying to focus on the child mystery in her hands, a _Sammy Keyes_ mystery, one of her favorites, but after reading the same sentence five times in a row and gaining nothing from it she finally lowered the book.

"What do you want?" she asked, annoyed. "Can't you see I'm trying to read here?"

Rick just smiled at her and shoved a paper pumpkin in her face. Kate snatched it out of her hand and flipped it open.

"_You are cordially invited to the Rodgers' first annual Halloween Extravaganza! This Friday night at seven PM. Parents welcome, costumes required," _she read. She looked up at Rick. "A Halloween party?"

He nodded. "Yup! My mom's throwing it for me. She says she wants to get to know all my friends and my friends' parents. You should come; it's gonna be fun. Nobody throws a better costume party than an actress!"

Kate looked down at the invite. "I dunno…did you invite Javi and Kevin?"

"Of course!" Rick said, nodding towards the boys, who were still deciphering the message on the cards. "You might have to read it to them, though."

Kate giggled. "What about Lanie? And Sidney?"

Rick smiled, holding up more invites. "I'm about to, actually. So, does that mean you'll come."

Kate shrugged. "It couldn't hurt. I gotta see what my mom says, though. She and Dad sometimes have plans around Halloween."

"Well, you can tell them that there are gonna be other adults there, too. My mom's actor friends are gonna be there and they're really funny. Plus, I'll be in costume, so that should be fun."

"What, Poe again?" Kate asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Pshaw, no!" Rick huffed. "You already saw me as Poe. I'm gonna be something completely different!"

"Like…?"

"You'll just have to show up and see," Rick said, winking and walking away as Montgomery called for them to take their seats.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

**Friday Night…**

"Do I look okay?" Kate asked Johanna as they walked down the street, toward Rick's building. Johanna smiled at her.

"You look adorable, Katie," she said, looking down at her little girl, dressed as a zombie.

Kate frowned. "Mo-om! I'm supposed to be _scary_, not adorable!" She stuck out her tongue.

Jim laughed, picking her up. "Oh, yes!" He said, "You're a _very_ scary little monster, Sweetheart." He kissed her cheek, making his lips turn green with the makeup. Kate rolled her eyes and laughed at him.

"You got some makeup on your lips, Daddy!" she giggled.

Jim chuckled and wiped his lips with the back of his hand. "It was well worth it, Katie," he said as they entered the building.

Jim and Johanna Beckett had done the couples thing and dressed as Gomez and Morticia Addams. Johanna had wanted Kate to dress as Wednesday but she insisted on being a zombie because she said that Wednesday wasn't scary enough.

Johanna conceded and helped her daughter rip up old clothes and do her makeup for the occasion. She was almost as excited for the party as Kate seemed to be. She'd had the pleasure of meeting and becoming friends with Martha Rodgers and was curious to see what the eccentric actress would choose as her own costume and who else she invited to the party.

When they got to Martha and Rick's Loft apartment, Johanna and Jim could already tell that there were a lot of people there by the sounds that carried through the hallway.

Johanna knocked and was greeted by a small vampire, half hidden by his cape draped over his arm.

"Velcome!" he greeted, in character. "Velcome, von and all! Please, come in!"

He stepped aside, welcoming them inside. Johanna stopped to hug the little boy. "Hello, Richard," she said, kissing his forehead.

Rick pouted. "Who is this _Richard _you speak of? _I _am Count Dracula and I am going to suck your blood!" He bared a pair of veneer fangs, which made Kate gasp.

"Are those real?" she asked, peering at them.

Rick smiled. "Aren't they cool?" he asked, smiling. "Mom took me to this friend of hers who did them for free! Pretty neat, right?"

Kate nodded, impressed. "Cool. Hey, where are Javi and Kevin?"

"Javi's over by the candy bowl with Lanie. Kevin hasn't shown up yet. I hope he gets here soon, though. The movie's about to start!"

"You're showing movies, too?" Kate asked.

Rick nodded. "Yeah. Mom had a guy set up a projector in the living room so all the kids can watch Hitchcock's greatest thrillers. The first one is Psycho!"

"I never saw that one."

"It's great! It's about this really creepy guy named Norman Bates who owns a Motel! I can't tell you much without spoiling it but it has a great twist at the end."

Kate nods. "Sounds like a good book."

Rick nods. "Sorta like that. Come on, let's go get Lanie and Javi and get it started."

Kate followed Castle into the kitchen, where Lanie and Javier were sitting at the table, eating candy and drinking apple cider.

Lanie was dressed in bloody scrubs, a mask under her chin and her curly hair pulled back in pigtails. Javi was dressed like a Toy Soldier, painted green with a plastic helmet on his head.

"Hey!" he greeted as Rick and Kate entered. "Lookin' scary, Beckett!"

Kate grinned, showing off her painted rotting teeth. "Thanks, Jav. I wish I could say the same for you."

"Hey!" Javi protested. "Soldiers _are _scary! Ever see Small Soldiers?"

"You don't exactly look like Chip Hazard, Javi. You look more like the soldiers in Toy Story." Lanie and Rick laughed and Javi pouted.

"They're pretty scary," he mumbled under his breath, taking another sip of his cider.

Kate laughed and took a seat next to Lanie after getting her own drink and candy. Rick sat across from her.

"So where do you guys usually go trick-or-treating?" Rick asked.

"First we all go in our buildings, then our moms meet up and take us to Westchester," Kate explained.

"Really? Where in Westchester?" Rick asked.

"The Lower part. You know, close to home. Scarsdale, Bronxville, Eastchester…all the rich people have great candy," Javier said, grinning.

"There's a town in Westchester called _Eastchester_?" Rick asked.

Kate laughed. "Yeah, I know. Pretty weird, huh? You wanna come with us?"

"Really?" Rick asked.

"Yeah, why not? You got other plans?"

"Not really," Rick said. "My nanny usually takes me around the block, but a lot of the buildings around here don't open up to trick-or-treaters if they don't already live in the building."

"Well, all the houses in Westchester do," Javi said. "Well…most of them, anyway. You should come; it'll be fun."

Rick smiled. "Okay, that sounds like fun. I'm sure my mom won't mind. My nanny might be kind of mad, though. She usually gets paid extra for Halloween."

"Hey, guys!" A voice from the doorway made all four heads turn to Kevin, standing there, dressed as a…

"Aww, look; Kevin's a puppy!" Lanie exclaimed.

Kevin's face fell. "No, I'm not!" he argued. "I'm a _werewolf_!"

Rick grimaced. "Ooh, you might wanna fix your ears then. They look a little droopy."

Kevin narrowed his eyes at him and reached up, self-consciously, to fix his ears.

"A little bit better, but who did your makeup, Bro?" Javi asked. "Cause whoever it is gave you a smile."

Kevin sighed. "My mom did it. I knew she was trying to make me look cute!" He sat down at the end of the table, pouting.

"Don't worry, Kev," Kate said, "you look scary to me."

Kevin brightened a little at this. "Thanks, Kate!" he said. Rick could practically see his tail wag and had to look away to hide his smirk. Kate noticed and kicked him under the table.

"Ow!" Javi exclaimed. "Who kicked me?!"

Kate looked away and Lanie chuckled. Rick snorted, before turning back to his friends.

"Let's go see if the movie's ready, shall we?" They all nodded and hopped down from their seats, grabbing their candy and juice.

Javi turned to Kevin, holding out a piece of candy like a treat. "Let's go, Fido! Come on, boy!" He teased, before laughing and running away as Kevin chased him.

"Very funny, Javi!" Kevin yelled.

The couch was empty in the living room so all five squished on top of it. Kevin was on the end, with Javi next to him, Lanie next to him, then Kate, then Rick was on the other end.

"You guys ready?" he asked.

They all nodded, Javi lifting his glass of cider, and Rick pressed play, beginning the movie.

At one particularly scary scene, Kate got spooked and buried her face into Rick's shoulder. Rick smiled and patted her arm. "Come on, Kate, it's not that-" he let out a girly shriek that had the rest of his friends bursting into giggles. He cleared his throat, embarrassed. "I was just trying to make Kate feel better," he covered.

Kate smiled. "Mmhmm, riiight, Rick; whatever you say…"

**REVIEWSS!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Just 24 hours left until 'The Final Frontier'! I actually went to the store and bought myself a copy of that TV Guide with them on the cover! The story is AMAZING! I cannot wait to see it! Okay, anyways, enjoy!**

Chapter Four-November

Rick, for the first time that year, arrived at school before Kate. Usually, he arrived ten minutes before the class began (Martha had been called in to work early every day for the rehearsal of a new Broadway play set to premiere in early December) and found her laying on the couch, her nose buried in one of Mr. Montgomery's many books. He would usually stand next to her, making funny faces and trying to distract her, or he would play with Kevin and Javi, who were usually settled on the rug, playing with their trucks.

Today he arrived a good half-hour early though, since Martha had been in a rush to make an early cast meeting. She'd barely had time to pack him a lunch so she just shoved a twenty in his hand, thinking it was a five, and kissed him goodbye. Rick shoved the twenty in his pocket without comment and went over to the rug to sit with Javi and Kevin who were coloring furiously, at least two dozen sheets of paper spread around them.

"Hey, guys!" Rick greeted, walking up to them, careful not to step on any of the papers, catching a glimpse of a purple 'T' and a red 'K'. "Watcha doin?" he asked.

"Makin' a sign for Kate," Kevin answered, "today's her birthday!"

Rick's eyes widened. "It is?" he asked.

Javier nodded. "Yeah, dude, where have ya been?" he asked. "She said it yesterday at lunch.

Rick tried to remember Kate saying something about her birthday at lunch the previous day but all he could remember was the mess he'd made out of his Sloppy Joe.

"Mmm, Sloppy Joe…" he said aloud, causing Javi and Kevin to look up at him, curiously.

"Uh…Rick?" Kevin asked. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, man, cause you got some drool on your lip…"

Rick snapped out of his daze and quickly wiped his mouth. "Uh, yeah!" he said, embarrassed. "I'm okay. Um…do you guys want any help?"

"We're almost done with the drawing," Javi said, "but you can help tape it all together."

Rick smiled. "Okay." He ran over to the teacher's desk and got the tape dispenser, bringing it back to the rug and helping Javi and Kevin put the giant banner together so that it read, 'Happy 7th Birthday, Kate!' on it.

They were having trouble holding it up when Lanie and Sidney walked in, talking.

"Hey, Lanie! Sid! Come help us out over here!" Javier called.

Lanie saw what the sign said and rushed over to help. Sidney Perlmutter was a little more reluctant but eventually joined in, holding up the bottom banner-the, 'Kate!'- while Javi and Kevin held the middle-'7th Birthday'- and Rick, the tallest, held 'Happy' up high, grinning.

They stood there like that for the two minutes that it took Kate to arrive, her nose stuck in a new book-presumably her birthday present.

She didn't even notice them standing there, holding a sign for her, and she nearly walked right past them, but Javi whistled loudly.

"Hey, Beckett!" he called, "Look up!"

Kate's eyes snapped to her friend, then to what he was holding, her eyes following the banner all the way to Kevin until she took in all of her friends-and Sidney-standing there, holding the banner with her name on it.

"Surprise!" Kevin said, smiling, his blue eyes shining. "Happy birthday, Kate!"

Kate smiled, big and bright, closing the book and taking in the crooked, colorful letters and her friends smiling faces-except Sidney-and laughed.

"Oh my gosh! That's awesome!" she exclaimed. "Thank you all so much!"

Lanie dropped her side of the banner and ran to hug her best friend, squeezing her, fiercely. "Happy birthday, Kate!" she said, before pulling back and taking something out of her pocket, handing it to Kate.

Kate smiled and took what her friend offered. It was a homemade card, folded up to fit in Lanie's dress pocket and wrapped around a gift card for Barnes and Noble.

Kate beamed at her, reading the card.

"'To my bestest friend, Kate: Happy birthday, Girl! I hope you have a great day! Love, Lanie' Aww, thanks, Lane!" she said, embracing her friend again. "But you know great is spelled G-R-E-A-T, right?" Lanie frowned and Kate smiled. "I'm just kidding! Come here!" She squeezed, tightly.

Kevin was next and gave Kate a new journal. "Mom said you'd like it," he said, blushing.

Kate smiled at him. "I _love_ it, Kev! Thank you!" She hugged the little boy, who was a few inches shorter than her so she ended up picking him up a little bit. He didn't mind, though.

Javier was next and he gave her a copy of Sherlock Holmes.

"It was my Abuelo's," he explained, "he knows I don't like reading so he said I should give it to you for your birthday; he knows how much you love mysteries."

Kate smiled. "Aww, that's so cool!" she said, hugging Javi. "Thanks, Jav!"

Javi beamed. Everybody turned to look at Sidney, who shook his head. "Don't look at me," he said, "I didn't get you anything."

Javi rolled his eyes and looked over at Rick. "How about you, Poe Boy? You got anything for Kate?" He knew he didn't already; he just wanted to see what Rick would say.

Rick blushed at Javi's question. "Um…well I…it's a surprise…for later…not now…hey! I think it's time for class!"

Montgomery smiled. "Yes it is!" he said. "Everybody take your seats and we can start the day off by singing 'Happy Birthday' to Miss Beckett.

Kate blushed and took her seat next to Rick, who was searching through his mind for something to give or make Kate for her birthday.

Rick finally figured out what he was going to give her at lunchtime, while he was waiting on line. He always sat with Javier, Kevin, Kate, and Lanie at a table in the corner and usually he would be the first one there but since his mother had given him money today, he had to wait on line for his lunch. Kate had promised to save him a seat.

He was served up a plate of spaghetti and meatballs and got down the line to the desserts when he saw that they had cupcakes, iced with different patterns. He picked a chocolate one for Kate with what looked like a unicorn on it, covered in red sugar. He placed it carefully on his tray, making sure it didn't get any tomato sauce on it, before paying.

"Do you have any birthday candles?" he asked the lunch lady.

"Why?" she asked.

"It's my friend's birthday today and I wanna give her this cupcake and it'd be really great if I could put a candle in it to make it like a birthday cake, ya know?"

The lunch lady smiled. "That's sweet of you." She reached into a drawer and took out a candle. "Here ya go; just don't light it."

Rick smiled and nodded. "Thank you!" he said, taking the candle and placing it outside the unicorn.

He carried the tray carefully back to the table, staying out of Kate's sight. "Kate," he said, "close your eyes!"

"Why?" Kate asked, turning around.

"No!" Rick said, causing her to stop what she was doing. "Don't look; it's a surprise! Just close your eyes, okay?"

"Alright…" Kate said, unsure. Rick smiled and Lanie signaled that her eyes were closed so he carefully placed his tray on the table next to Kate and put the cupcake in front of her.

"Okay, you can open your eyes now, Kate!" Rick said.

Kate's eyes opened and she gasped. "Whoa! That's so cool! Thanks, Rick! Uh…what's the candle for?"

"It's for your wish, silly!" he said. "But we can't light it so you'll just have to pretend to blow it out."

"Uh…okay," Kate said, shrugging. She closed her eyes tightly for a few seconds before opening them and blowing the imaginary flame out.

"What did you wish for?" Kevin asked.

"She can't say, Dummy, or it won't come true!" Javi said, rolling his eyes.

"Don't call him a Dummy, Jav!" Kate scolded. Javi hung his head.

"And that's only the first part of your gift! Wait until you see the second!" Rick promised.

Kate's eyebrows rose. "There's more?" she asked.

"Of course there's more!" Rick said, ideas flashing through his mind. "But you're gonna have to wait until _after_ recess to see." Kate tilted her head at him but he just smiled and slurped a long piece of spaghetti.

When Kate, Javier, Kevin, and Lanie entered the classroom after break they were surprised to see Rick there, working on something on the blackboard. Kate's eyes widened when she saw her name above a large picture of a castle. It was really well drawn and had a few little cartoon people in and around it.

The message above it read, "Happy birthday, Princess Kate!"

"What's this?" Kate asked, coming up to stand beside him.

Rick smiled at her. "It's the other half of your birthday present!" he answered, raising his arms to motion at the large castle. "You see, there you are," he pointed to a girl in one of the towers, dressed as a princess that Kate supposed was her, "there's Javi and Kevin," he pointed to two knights standing guard at the base of the castle, "Lanie," he pointed to what looked like a Lady-in-Waiting in one of the lower windows, "I even put in Mr. Montgomery; he's the King." He pointed to a King figure, standing on top of the castle.

"As I should be," Montgomery chuckled.

"This is so amazing, Rick!" Kate said. "But…where are you?"

Rick shrugged. "I didn't make myself yet," he said.

"Yeah you did!" Javier insisted. "You're the castle!"

Rick looked at him, uncertainly, "The castle?" he asked, skeptically.

"Well, it's either that or the village fool," Javi said.

"No, the village fool is Sidney-"

"I heard that!" Sidney called from his seat.

Rick winced. "I'll take the castle," he said, smiling, "I like the sound of that…Rick _Castle_; its way better that Rick Rodgers!" He ran to the lower right corner of the board and signed the drawing, 'Rick Castle'. "From now on you shall all call me Castle…peasants!" Kate rolled her eyes at him.

"Whatever," she said, "thanks for the gift, _Castle_. It was really thoughtful."

Ri-_Castle_ smiled. "You're welcome, Kate. Happy birthday!" He hugged her and she kissed him on the cheek, making him blush and mumble like crazy. Kate laughed.

"How about a picture in front of Mr. Ro-I mean Mr. Castle's castle?" Montgomery asked, taking out the polaroid he kept on hand for special occasions.

Kate smiled and nodded, moving back to stand at the side of the castle, with Castle right beside her.

Montgomery was about to snap the picture when she stopped him. "Wait! Javi, Lanie, Kev; get into the picture! Come on!"

They all moved to stand with them, the boys kneeling on the ground in front while Lanie stood next to Kate, her arm around Kate's shoulder. Kate had both of her arms slung over Lanie and Castle's shoulders and Castle's arm was around her waist.

"Everybody say, 'Cheese!'" Montgomery said.

The children all smiled. "Cheese!" they said in unison and Montgomery snapped the photo of all their smiling faces.

It would be the first thing that Kate put into her new journal.

**REVIEWS would be nice, yes?**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello, all! So I've been seeing a lot of Christmas stuff lately (commercials, decorations, etc.) and usually that would annoy me but since I now have to do a December chapter, all that has given me inspiration and so I have written a Holiday-inspired episode. Enjoy!**

Chapter Five-December

On the first day of December, Castle (the nickname which he'd been introducing himself as and people have taken to calling him) walked into Roy Mongomery's first grade class with wide eyes.

"Whoa…" he whispered, in awe of all the decorations that littered the room. Montgomery had hung up Christmas lights and tinsel and put up a small tree in the corner that blinked red and green, with handmade ornaments hanging from branches, high and low, and had old-fashioned toys scattered around the room, as well as stuffed reindeer, Santa dolls, and snowmen. He had a collection of snow globes on a shelf behind his desk and the blackboard had one corner dedicated to counting down the days until Christmas.

Now it read, "24 Days until Santa Claus arrives!"

"This is so awesome!" Castle murmured to himself, walking over to where Kate lie reading, while Javi and Kevin played with their trucks. "Kate," he said, coming up to stand next to her, "have you seen all this?"

Kate peered up, over her book. "Hmm? Oh, you mean the decorations? Yeah, I've seen them. They're okay."

"Okay? They're more than just okay! They're _amazing!_ Look at all this! Mr. Montgomery even got a tree!" He looked over at said tree, thoughtfully. "I wonder if Santa's gonna put anything under it.

Kate snorted. "I doubt it."

Castle furrowed his brows at her. "Why not?"

Kate rolled her eyes. "Because there is no Santa, Castle." She whispered it, making sure Javi and Kevin didn't here.

"What do you mean?" Castle asked. "Of course there's a Santa! He comes every year and puts presents under the tree for you!"

Kate rolled her eyes. "That's impossible because I don't even have a chimney. There's no way he could get in my apartment."

"Of course he can; he's magic!" Castle insisted.

Kate just rolled her eyes again. "Whatever you say, Castle."

Castle wanted to argue further but Montgomery was already calling for everybody to take their seats.

"Good morning, class!" He boomed as everybody settled. "As you've probably noticed, the Holidays are starting! That means Hanukah, Kwanza, New Year's, and, of course, Christmas! Now I know not everybody here celebrates Christmas, but in my house it's a pretty big deal. I have a boy and two girls. My middle child is about your age and she just loves decorating for Christmas and making cookies and buying presents. In fact, we even have a little Secret Santa tradition. Each year, we pass around a hat with all our names in it and whoever picks your name has to make you a Christmas gift. Then on Christmas Eve we exchange gifts with each other. It's very fun and we've been honoring this tradition since my oldest was just a few years old. And I thought it would be fun if we could do something like that here. What do you think?"

The students all looked at each other and nodded in agreement; it sounded like fun to them.

"Alright then," Montgomery said, reaching into his desk drawer and pulling out a hat, "I've already taken the liberty of putting all your names into this hat. Now, when I call your name, I want each of you to come up and pick a name. If it's your own then you put it back and pick again. Whosever name you pick, you are their Secret Santa and you must make them three presents. The first will be placed anonymously on their desk on Friday. The second a week after that, and then the third you will give to them personally, revealing yourself to them. The only rules are no inappropriate gifts and you are to _make_ the gifts yourself; no buying. Also, my name is in there, so whoever gets me know that I love anything with chocolate and the color red." There were a few snickers here and there. "Now come on and pick the first name…Miss Beckett, you're first."

Kate stood and walked to the front of the room, reaching into the hat and digging around in the tiny slivers of paper until her hand closed around it. She didn't look at it before walking back to her desk.

When she did finally look at it, she nearly groaned aloud at the name written on it; "Richard 'Castle' Rodgers".

"Great," she muttered under her breath, looking at her eccentric partner who was currently doodling a picture of a Zombie and an Alien at war with one another, making sound effects as he did. She shook her head; what was she going to make him?

Kate was still wondering what to give Castle that night at dinner, while she was rolling her peas around on her spoon.

"Katie don't play with your food," Johanna chastised.

Kate looked up, brought out of her thoughts by her mother's stern voice. "Hmm?" she said, blankly.

Johanna could see that the girl hadn't been aware of what she was doing and she knew that something must be on her mind.

"Is everything okay, Sweetie?" she asked, taking a spoonful of peas into her own mouth.

Kate nodded. "Yeah, everything's fine." Johanna could tell that wasn't true but she didn't want to push her daughter.

"What happened at school today, Katie?" Jim asked.

"Mr. Montgomery decorated the whole classroom for Christmas and we picked Secret Santas."

"Oh? Who did you get?" he asked.

Kate rolled her eyes. "I got Castle."

"You don't sound too happy about it; I thought you liked Rick." Johanna refused to use the nickname the kids had come up with; she knew him as little Rick Rodgers and would always think of him that way.

"He's okay," Kate said, blushing, "but I don't know what to make him."

"Make?" Jim asked.

"Yeah, Mr. Montgomery says we gotta make something; no store-bought gifts."

"I see…Well, doesn't Rick like sweets? Maybe you can make him some cupcakes or something. I'm sure he's love that."

"I guess so, but I gotta make hime _three_ gifts. The first one I have to leave on his desk on Friday. Then the second one next Friday, and then the day before vacation I gotta give him the last gift and reveal myself as his Secret Santa."

"Well, then we can make Gingerbread cookies tomorrow and you can decorate one specially for him," Johanna offered. "Sound good?"

Kate smiled and nodded. "That sounds great!"

"Good. Now, eat your peas."

Kate rolled her eyes and took a spoonful of peas into her mouth. "Happy?" she asked, cheekily.

Johanna smiled. "Thrilled."

Castle rolled into class-yes, he _rolled_, like a spy-landing on his feet, his eyes darting around, making sure that the person he was looking for was not in his sight. Quickly, he dropped to his hands and knees, tucking the doll into his coat pocket and crawling over to the desk he was looking for, slipping the doll onto it, and rolling away.

He landed on his backside at Mr. Montgomery's feet. Montgomery smiled down at him.

"Very smooth, Mr. Castle," he said, lending a hand to help the small boy to his feet. "I think she's going to like it very much."

Castle smiled at his teacher. "Thanks, Mr. M!" he ran over to Kevin and Javier, who were once again playing on the rug, only they had blocks instead of trucks. Kate was, as always, lounging on the couch, a book in her hands. Castle smiled at her and crawled up behind her, making sure to remain unseen. Slowly, he rose up on his knees behind her and made his hands into claws, making a scary face and inhaling a deep breath, before preparing to let it out…

"Don't. Even. _Think_ about it," Kate said, startling Castle and causing his face to fall.

"You're no fun," Castle moaned.

Kate rolled her eyes. "I'm plenty of fun," she said, "right, Espo?"

Javi looked up, wide-eyed. "Uh…yeah, whatever you say, Kate." He smiled, widely, nervously.

Kate grinned and went back to her book.

Castle shook his head at Javier. "Suck-up," he mouthed.

Javi shrugged and went back to his blocks, while Castle huffed and leaned against the couch, shaking a snow globe until Montgomery called for all the students to take their seats.

When he got to his seat, Castle was surprised to see a Gingerbread man, decorated to look like an elf, sitting on a napkin on his desk.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed, picking up the cookie and examining it. "This is so cool!"

Kate sat next to him, with a smile, finding a little, hand-sewn doll on her desk. The doll had a red dress with white fur on the edges of the skirt and the sleeves. It also had brown, stringy hair tied into a braid. Kate assumed it was her, dressed in a Mrs. Claus style dress.

"I wonder who made this," she said, aloud. Castle shoved the head of the Gingerbread man in his mouth to hide his smile.

"Okay, class," Montgomery said, "take a moment to peruse and/or eat your Secret Santa gifts and then we're going to start on our addition tables." The entirety of the class groaned, but Montgomery waved it off, taking a large bite out of his own cookie, shaped like Santa's head.

The next week, Kate slipped a handmade mug on Castle's desk.

Jim had taken her to a pottery place, where an instructor had assisted her in shaping a tall coffee mug, which he then put in the kiln for her. It had taken a couple of hours to fully harden, so Jim took her out for dinner and they perused the toy stores and jewelry stores looking for gifts for Johanna. When they returned, Kate was able to decorate the mug. She painted it dark blue and used red to write, 'Rick Castle' on it. They left it there to dry overnight and picked it up before Kate arrived at school.

Kate hoped Castle appreciated all the thought she'd put into the gift. Just like the thought her own Secret Santa had put into the doll, which she kept in her backpack, though she'd never admit it to Castle or the boys.

Castle crept into the class, holding his hand-knitted scarf, which was far too long and was missing a few stitched, but it was his first time knitting anything and Martha was not a very patient teacher; she was very busy with her new show and didn't have time to properly teach her son how to knit, so it was natural that he made mistakes.

He placed the folded up scarf on Kate's desk, making sure that he nose was firmly stuck in her book, and smiling at the coffee mug on his own desk.

"That's neat," he muttered, before joining Javi and Kevin, playing once again with the blocks.

Kate loved the purple and red scarf she found on her desk. It was long enough to wrap around her neck three times and _still_ go down to her knees, and the yarn was nice and soft against her skin; it would definitely keep her warm.

Rick decided that he would ask his nanny to make him Hot Cocoa in his mug later that night; he especially loved his name on the side.

Kate's last gift was a hand-painted ornament. It was a simple ball but it had his name on it and she'd painted it a variety of crazy colors that clashed, but she knew that's what he loved. She tied a red ribbon on it with, 'To Castle, From Kate,' printed on it in white letters.

Rick's last gift to Kate was a knitted hat with her initials stitched in. The hat was supposed to match her scarf and Castle thought he did a good job, though he might have made it a bit too wide for Kate's head. Oh well, she'd grow into it…hopefully.

On the last day before Holiday vacation, Rick arrived to the class with the hat in his hand and a Santa hat on his head, his cheeks rosy with the winter chill.

"'Sup, Claus?" Javi greeted, coming up to him with the ever-loyal Kevin at his side.

"Hey, Castle," Kevin greeted.

Hey, Espo, Kev," Castle said, smiling. "You guys seen Kate? I'm her Secret Santa."

Javi smiled. "Awesome! Yeah, she's reading again on the couch. So you really made that scarf for her?"

Castle smiled proudly. "Yup! My mom taught me how to knit, but I think I made it too long…"

"Well, Kate seems to like it. She's been wearing it all week!"

Castle grinned. "I've noticed. So, who did _you_ guys get?"

"I got Lanie," Javi said, "it's hard making things for girls! All I was able to make was ornaments made out of popsicle sticks; I'm no artist."

"Tell me about it," Kevin laughed, earning him an elbow in the ribs. "I got Jenny. I made her an origami swan, a picture frame, and this angel." He held up a little cloth angel, stuffed to stand upright, with origami wings.

"That's pretty cool," Castle complimented. "Good job."

Kevin smiled. "Thanks! I worked hard on it."

"I can tell. You should probably go give it to her. I'm gonna go give my last gift to Kate. Seeya guys later." The boys said good bye and Rick walked over to Kate, who was wrapped up in Charles Dickens' _A Christmas Carol _and didn't see him come up behind her.

"Merry Christmas!" Castle yelled in her ear, making Kate jump and fall off the couch. She looked up at him from the floor, annoyed at being disturbed.

"Was that really necessary?" she asked.

Castle shrugged. "Maybe not, but look, I have a gift for you; _I'm _your Secret Santa!"

Kate's eyes widened. "Really? Because I'm _yours_!" She reached down into her backpack, taking out the ornament and showing it to him. "Merry Christmas, Castle," she said, smiling.

Castle took the ornament, trading it for her hat, and turned it over in his hand, examining it. "This is so cool!" he said. "I can't _wait_ to hang it on our tree!"

Kate smiled. "Thanks. I love the scarf and I really like this hat!" She put it on her head and giggled as the front slid down over her eyes. "It's a little big though."

Castle laughed. "I guess so, but your head will grow."

They both laughed and Kate settled the hat so that it stayed on the top of her head. "Thanks, Castle," she said, smiling at him.

Castle smiled. "Always."

**OBAMA WINS! Just ten minutes ago Obama won his second-term as President of the United States and I, in turn, got up and danced for a good five minutes, before coming back to finish this up. Anyways, REVIEWS would make my morning wonderful! Thank you all for reading! Until next time…**

**Luv Cassie Bones**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello! Sorry it's taken me so long to update but I've been swamped at school (Spring Registration was on Friday and I have been adding and dropping classes left and right!) but I'm back now! So, enjoy!**

**Chapter Six-January (really December 31****st**** to New Year, but w.e)**

Castle was taking an impromptu nap on the couch. It was two days before he and his mother would ring out the New Year on Broadway (like they did nearly every year) and he was exhausted from playing with the many gifts that Santa Claus had brought him. Martha was in the kitchen with his newest nanny, Claudia, learning how to make some sort of exotic dish for dinner, when the phone rang, making Castle jump out of his slumber, landing on his face on the floor next to him with a groan.

Martha, thinking that her usually energetic and mischievous son was still sleeping, rushed to answer it.

"Hello?" she whispered into the receiver. She was silent for a moment as the person on the other end spoke. "Oh?" Martha said. "_Really?_ Well, that's marvelous! Well, ahem, not for _her_, of course-do tell her I wish her well, would you? Mhmm…yes, that's fine. Oh, wait…the 31st? I'm not sure if I…no, I do want this part, but…Yes, I understand that…Yes, I guess I'll do it. The show is at eight, you said? Makeup by five? Very well then. Thank you. Goodbye."

She hung up the phone and leaned against the counter. "Oh, phooey," she mumbled, looking at Claudia, who said nothing in return, waiting for the actress to naturally tell her what had her in low spirits. It took her only a couple of moments. "That was my director, for the new play I'm working on? My understudy is sick with the flu so now I have to go in on New Year's Eve…however will I tell Richard?"

"You just did," a small voice said from the doorway. Castle had gotten up when he heard his mother's voice in the kitchen. He didn't know Nanny Claudia was handling the cooking and was afraid that his mother might set fire to the stove again. But when he walked into the kitchen, he saw Claudia stirring a mess of pork, beans, and peppers in a pan and his mother was whispering into her phone-or trying to, anyway. He'd heard her entire half of the conversation and had connected the dots himself; his mother was not going to be there for their annual New Year's celebration. Her words had just confirmed what he already knew.

Martha's eyes widened at the sight of her son, with his still drowsy eyes and sleep-mussed hair. He looked upset but almost as if he saw this coming, even though she never missed a holiday or a birthday since he was born. She always made sure she was there when it counted, but she didn't deny that she had broken promises for her work, and often. Castle had gotten used to hanging out with his Nannies and sitters and spending nights and even days without his mother. But this would be their first holiday apart.

Martha frowned and moved to hug her son. He didn't pull away, nor did he embrace her in return. He was stiff, trying to convey his hurt about being left alone on New Year's Eve without in turn hurting his mother.

"I'm so sorry, Richard," Martha murmured in his son's ear, "but they were going to give my part to someone else if I didn't agree. But, I'll be there on New Year's day and we'll have a day out on the town to celebrate the New Year, huh? Just you and me; I'll leave my phone at home. Does that sound okay to you?"

Castle nodded and wrapped his arms around his mother, finally embracing her and she picked him up, not wanting to let go just yet. She carried him over to the stove, where Claudia was cooking. "Wanna try some spiced pork, Sweetie?" Claudia asked, spooning some and bringing it to his lips. Castle nodded and opened his mouth, allowing Claudia to feed him what was on the spoon. As soon as the pork touched his lips, Castle's eyes widened and he spit it out on Claudia.

"Oh my!" Claudia exclaimed.

"_Richard!"_ Martha admonished.

Castle didn't hear either of them, though-the pain on his tongue was far too great. "Water!" He croaked, wriggling out of his mother's arms, "I NEED WATER!" He ran to the sink and turned on the faucet, sticking his mouth under it and turning on the cold spray, taking in as much as he could while the cold liquid ran down the front of his shirt.

"Richard Alexander Rodgers!" Martha exclaimed, but Castle ignored her. That is, until she pulled him out from under the spray and sat him down at the counter, drying him with a paper towel. Claudia set a glass of milk down in front of him.

"Here," she said, "drink this." Castle grabbed the glass and began chugging from it, sighing in relief as the burn went away. He put the glass back down and let out a large burp. Martha sighed and rubbed her temple with one hand.

"What _ever_ am I going to do with you?" she wondered aloud.

Castle smiled up at her, cheekily. "Sell me to a circus?" he asked, sounding genuinely excited.

Martha laughed. "Richard, dear, look around yourself; we _live _in a circus!"

CASTLECASTLECASTLECASTLE

New Year's Eve came and Martha arranged for Richard to be watched by the Beckett's, who were hosting Kevin, Javier, and Lanie, as well as their parents in their own annual tradition. The adults all bought hats and noisemakers for the children and wine and champagne for themselves and the children were bought pizza and stayed in Kate's room where they could watch New Year's Rockin' Eve on the television, as well as see the ball drop from her window.

Kate had an array of board games for them to all play as they watched and they welcomed Castle immediately, settling him between herself and Javi, while they played Scrabble.

Kate and Castle, being the two best readers, dominated the game where Lanie and the boys used simpler words for lower scores. Soon, the three had dropped out and were now watching Kate and Castle, who were head to head, scores tied evenly, each with only three tiles left.

It was Kate's turn.

Her eyes scanned the board for the fifth time, searching for somewhere to place her last pieces and end the game, finally, but she was having no luck. Finally, she just took the T and H she had and added them to the word, 'MA' that Lanie had made on her last turn, to spell 'MATH', where the H also met with the A in Castle's 'AARVARK' (how he learned that word was a mystery to Kate).

"Okay, so that's nine points, plus five for spelling out 'HA' and there's a triple letter score under the H which means that it's 12 for each one, so that's really thirty points, altogether…" Kate smiled up at her friends, who were all looking at her, dumbfounded. "What? I like math." She turned to Castle. "Beat that!"

Castle smiled and added an M to the words 'ICE' and 'IT', making them 'MICE' and 'MIT'.

"_Mitt_ has TWO T's in it; nice try." Kate said.

Castle grinned and held up his T, adding it to the end of 'MIT' and also over the O of Javi's 'OWL'.

MICE earned him 8 points. MITT earned him 12, because it was a double-word score. And TO earned him 2. He was now 8 points behind Kate, but he had a plan.

Kate's last letter was a Q and there were no open U's, but she knew that putting it next to an I counted as a word from playing with her father. She quickly found one and gained 11 points.

"Go ahead, Castle," she said, "let's see if you can get a higher score and win. You're only 19 points behind me." She grinned at him, challengingly.

Castle smiled back and nonchalantly placing his X between the E at the end of Kevin's 'SMILE' and Javier's 'AM' to make 'EXAM'. The worst part was that the X fell upon another double-word score, making the cumulative score for the word 26 points. Kate's jaw dropped and Castle grinned, cockily at her.

"I win," he stated, calmly.

Kate narrowed her eyes at him. "Best two out of three?" she asked.

Castle glanced at the clock; they still had two hours until the ball dropped. "You're on."

CASTLECASTLECASTLECASTLE

Kevin, Lanie, and Javi watched with bated breaths as their friends went head to head in their last Scrabble match, each of them having already won a game and now each on their last tiles. They were tied again and it was Castle's turn. He was looking frantically for a space to make the best of his 5 point K, but couldn't find anywhere to put it. The only place he could find was in front of 'IT' but that would make it only 7 points. Surely Kate would beat that. Then he saw it; YAKS.

His K would make the word 'KYAKS' which was perfect, and it was a triple-word score! He looked up at Kate with a cocky grin and saw her fidgeting and frowning at her last piece, obviously distressed. Castle immediately deflated; she must not have had a good piece. He felt guilty for some reason and found himself placing the K in front of 'IT', spelling 'KIT' for the 7 points.

Kate's brow rose and she bit her lip, her eyes scanning the board. Suddenly, she smiled and put the C in her hat in front of 'AT', spelling 'CAT' over a double-letter score, giving her 10 points. She jumped to her feet, cheering. "I win!" Lanie and Javi clapped, while Kevin dozed on the floor a few feet away; it was nearly midnight and he'd fallen asleep sometime during Kate and Castle's second game.

Castle shrugged. "You don't have to rub it in, ya know?" he said in mock anger.

Kate giggled. "Aw, come on, Castle! Don't be such a sore loser! It's only a game!"

"_I_ know that, but do _you_ know that?" Castle asked.

Kate laughed again. "Yeah, yeah, whatever." Castle just shook his head and turned to the TV, while Kate began to pack up the Scrabble board.

As she was picking up all the pieces she noticed the word YAKS and that it had a triple-word tile directly before it with nothing to keep it from being at least a thirty point word. She then looked over at Castle's last word. Why had he chosen to make such a small word when he could have made KYAKS for more than three times as many points, effectively beating Kate? She dismissed the notion that he might not have seen it at once; Castle's eyes never missed anything, especially not during an intense game of Scrabble.

So, then had he simply let her win? But why? She looked over at Castle, who was sitting in front of the television, watching Christina Aguilera perform in Times Square. It was five minutes to midnight.

Why would he do that? She wondered.

Before she could ask him herself, Jim Beckett opened the door with a tray of Sparkling Cider in champagne flutes for them.

"Here ya go, kids! Some cider to bring in the New Year!" He placed the tray on Kate's desk and Lanie and Javi immediately retrieved their own glasses, clinking them and giggling. Kate got her own glass and one for Castle.

"Thanks, Daddy!" she said, smiling sweetly up at him.

"No problem, Katie," Jim replied, kissing his daughter's forehead. "Three minutes left to midnight! Don't forget to come and give your old man a kiss when the New Year rings in, okay?"

Kate smiled. "Okay!" She hugged her dad and he patted her head, moving back out the door. Kate walked over to Castle and handed him a flute. "Here," she said, "it's sparkling cider. You have to wait until midnight to drink it, though."

Castle smiled in thanks. "Okay. Thanks."

Kate sat down next to him, quietly, looking around awkwardly. "You're not gonna watch it on TV, are you?"

"Watch what?" Castle asked.

"The ball drop! It's much better to look out the window; come on!" She grabbed hold of Castle's hand and pulled him to her window, where they could see snow starting to fall, softly over Manhattan. They could see Times Square from there, and the glowing New Year's Ball over all the buildings. They couldn't see anything else but they noticed when the ball started to move. They had only a minute left.

"I know you let me win," Kate said, suddenly, not looking at him.

Castle opened his mouth to deny it, but knew that she'd see right through the lie. "How?" he asked.

"You think I don't have eyes, Rick?" Kate said, grinning. She hadn't called him Rick since her birthday, but it just popped out now. "I saw YAKS and I know how easy it turns into KYAKS. I'm not stupid."

"I don't think you're stupid, I just…I didn't want to embarrass you in front of your friends. Also, I didn't think you had a good letter, so I thought I still might win." He was only half-lying; he didn't know exactly why he'd thrown the game, but he just knew that he did and he didn't regret it.

Kate smiled at him. "That's sweet," she said, "but I'm sure I would have found some way to crush you even if you had used KYAKS."

Castle snorted. "Right…whatever."

Kate nudged him with her shoulder and he nudged back. They could hear the final countdown from ten starting in the other room.

10…9…8…

"Thank you, Castle," Kate said, quietly, smiling at him.

Castle blushed at her sincere gratitude. "No problem," he replied.

7…6…5…4…

"Cheers," Kate said, lifting her glass. Castle lifted his and clinked them against each other, before taking a sip.

3…2…1…

Suddenly, Kate's lips were on his cheek, and just as suddenly, they were off and she was running off to find her parents, slapping Javi on the head as he attempted to draw on Kevin's face with a permanent marker.

Castle just stared after her, rubbing the part of his face that her lips had touched, smiling goofily.

"Happy New Year," he mumbled to himself, the smile not leaving his face as he took a sip of his cider.

**Hope y'all liked this one! REVIEWS please!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Valentine's Day and a new character added to my story. She's not OC and you'll definitely recognize her! Enjoy!**

**Chapter 7-February**

"Kevin? Kevin? Helloooo? Keeeevin…"

"DUDE!"

Kevin Ryan nearly fell out of his chair at Javi's shout. He turned to see Castle rubbing his left ear and glaring at Javier, who, in turn, was glaring at Kevin.

"Dude, what are you staring at?" Javi grumbled. "Mr. M excused us for break like five minutes ago!"

Kevin's eyebrows rose in shock. "Really?" he asked.

"Actually," Castle interjected, "it was more like _two _minutes ago, but-" at Javi's glare, he shut up.

"Whatever," Javi said, "the point is; you've been spacing out all morning! Now _what_ are you staring at?" he repeated his question.

A blush rose on Kevin's cheeks. "N-nothing!" he said, looking pointedly away from the new girl, Jenny O'Malley, who'd just arrived from Oklahoma.

She had blonde hair and bright green eyes and her smile made Kevin blush (he had no idea why!). And, for some reason, he couldn't stop staring at her. He'd never had this problem before…

"Dude!" With a start, Kevin realized that he was staring again. This time, Javi's eyes followed his line of sight, groaning when he saw the reason his best friend kept drifting off. "You're staring at the blonde! _Dude!_"

Javi's words were practically shouted, resonating off of each corner of the room so that everybody was looking their way. Thankfully, Castle covered for him, grabbing a doll off the nearest shelf with blonde hair.

"It's just a doll, Javi," he said, "and it's pretty…"

Kevin laughed and Javier shook his head, a small grin appearing. "You're such a goof, Castle."

Castle shrugged. "Haters gonna hate."

Javi turned back to Kevin. "But _seriously_ dude; you like the _new girl_?"

"NO!" Kevin said, defensively, just as loud as Javi's words before. He looked around, seeing people's heads turning towards him and he cleared his throat, lowering his voice. "No!" he whispered. "I just…like her shirt…"

"She's wearing a dress…" Castle pointed out, smirking. Javier snickered and Kevin blushed.

"Well, uh…what I meant was…"

"Dude, save it," Javi said, shaking his head, "you're not fooling anyone; you got the hots for the Okie." He grinned, cockily.

Kevin furrowed his eyebrow. "Don't call her that!"

Javi turned to Castle. "See?" he said; Castle nodded. He turned back to Kevin. "You soooo like her!" he taunted.

"Just like _you _like Lanie!" Kevin retorted, crossing his arms.

Javi blanched. "Wh-why you say that?" he asked, looking around for the afore-mentioned Lanie.

"_Please!_" Kevin scoffed. "It's so _obvious_! You're always blushing when she's around and I saw you looking at her yesterday during our math lessons. Admit it!"

Javi pouted. "Yeah, so maybe I do! At least I'm man enough to admit it!"

Kevin snorted. "Javi, you're _six_! You're not a man at all!"

"Maybe not on the outside," Javi grumbled, looking away. Kevin rolled his eyes and Castle fought to hold back his own snort of laughter.

"Anyway," Kevin said, "what does it matter? She's never gonna like me back."

"Why do you say that?" Castle asked.

"Look at me!" Kevin exclaimed. "I'm short and chubby and I blush every time I try to talk to a girl!"

"You don't blush when you talk to us," Lanie said, coming up next to Javi. Kate was behind her.

"That's because you're not really girls!" Kevin said, without thinking. Lanie and Kate glared at him.

"You better take that back or I'ma slap you!" Lanie threatened, holding one hand in the air like a promise. Kevin backed away, holding up his hands.

"Okay! Okay! Sorry! Geesh!" Castle and Javi snickered, each receiving twin glares from Lanie and Kate. They pretended to look away and Castle attempted to whistle. He failed.

Kate and Lanie shared a look and shook their heads. "So, what were you boys talking about, anyway?" Kate asked.

"Nothing," the boys said in unison. Kate and Lanie shared another look. Lanie shrugged.

"Whatever," she said, "so what are you guys bringing for Valentine's Day?"

"_Valentine's Day?_" Javi echoed. "When is _that_?"

"The same day as every year," Kate said, "February 14; Wednesday…"

"Mr. Montgomery said we were having a party and everybody has to bring something. Weren't you guys listening?" Lanie said.

"Not really. I was flicking paper balls at Javi and he was trying to get Kevin's attention, and Kevin was-"

"Castle, be quiet!" Kevin admonished, glaring at Castle.

Castle shut up and Kevin shook his head.

"What were you doing, Kev?" Kate asked. "And why don't you want Lanie and me to know?"

"Nothing!" Kevin said, blushing furiously. "I was just daydreaming…"

"About Jenny O'Malley," Javi added. Kevin punched him in the arm. "Ow! What was that for?!"

"Like you don't know!" Kevin growled.

Lanie squealed. "Awwww! Kevin's got a crush!" she clapped her hands. Kate pulled Kevin into ad hug, crushing him.

"I'm so happy for you, Kevin!" she said. Kevin groaned, glaring at Javi and Castle, over Kate's shoulder, who were both in hysterics, practically pummeling each other to conceal their laughter.

"Why are you happy, exactly?" Kevin asked, extracting himself from Kate's embrace. "It's not like she likes me back!"

"Not _yet_, you mean," Kate said, smiling. "You just gotta show her what she's missing!"

"Yeah, Kev!" Lanie said, grinning. "Show her what a sweet guy you are and she'll be all over you!"

"Pfft!" Javi scoffed. "Girls don't want _sweet_ guys! They want _bad boys_!" He grinned cockily at Lanie, who rolled her eyes.

"How would you know?" Lanie retorted. "You ain't a girl! Or _are_ you?"

Castle and Kevin snickered and Kate laughed out loud. Javi glared at Lanie.

"Do I _look_ like a girl to you?" he hissed.

"Oh, you don't wanna know what I think _you_ look like, Javier Esposito," Lanie said, sticking her nose up.

Kate chuckled and Castle and Kevin shared a knowing look at Javier's annoyance.

"Whatever," he grumbled, "let's just go to lunch." He stomped out of the room with Castle trailing him, Lanie and Kate still gushing over Kevin and his new crush as they walked to the cafeteria.

Caskett-Caskett-Caskett-Caskett

Wednesday Morning…

Kevin held the little pink construction paper cut-out heart in his trembling hands, staring at Jenny's desk, which was already littered with Valentines. Kate and Lanie had said the way to her heart was to make her a special Valentine, so instead of filling out one of the many Peanuts Valentine cards for her, he had crafted his own, adding frills from a doily around the edges and filling it out with a personal message. He'd been too scared to sign his own name, though, so he'd written, 'From your secret Valentine,' instead, since he had no idea how to spell admirer or anonymous.

Jenny was away from her desk but that didn't make Kevin any less nervous about leaving the Valentine on her desk and maybe getting caught doing it.

"Dude, what are you waiting for?" Javi said coming up next to him, his own hands filled with his Valentines for the class. "Just drop it on her desk already!"

"Wh-what if she sees me?" Kevin says, nervously.

"So what? Isn't the whole point of the Valentine to let her know you like her?" Kevin looked away. "You _did_ put your name on it, didn't you?" Kevin shook his head, slowly. "Kevin!"

"What?" Kevin said, hunching his shoulders. "I'm afraid she won't like it. What if she thinks it's dumb?"

Javi gave him an incredulous look. "We're talking about the same girl who draws unicorns and rainbows on the chalkboard every morning, right?"

Kevin shrugged. "What if she doesn't like me back?"

Javi shrugged. "Then you'll get over it."

"Maybe…but I'm not taking any chances. I'll only tell her that I wrote it if she likes it."

Javi rolled his eyes. "Whatever, dude; do what you want, but you're being ridiculous."

"What about you?" Kevin asked, suddenly. "You gonna tell Lanie that you like her?"

Javi smiled and held up his own, sloppy red heart. He'd written his own personal message to Lanie and had drawn them holding hands on the card. He's also signed his initials; J.E. There were no other J.E's in the class.

"Why did you draw a seven-legged spider?" Kevin asked, squinting at the card.

Javi frowned. "That's me and Lanie!" he said, offended.

"Oh," Kevin said, trying not to laugh, "sorry."

"Whatever. Just go give your girlfriend her gift already. I'm gonna go put mine on Lanie's desk." He turned and walked away, grumbling about Kevin's comment on his Valentine.

Kevin just shook his head and took a deep breath, heading over to Jenny's desk, the Valentine firmly grasped in his hand. He'd only just gotten it on the table when a voice spoke out behind him.

"Hi, Kevin!" the high, girly voice said and Kevin jumped, turning around, coming face to face with…

"_Castle!_" he hissed. "What'd you do that for? You scared me to death!"

Castle laughed. "You should see your face!" he snorted, bent over in hysterics.

Kevin pushed Castle, knocking him over onto the ground. "Not funny!" he said, walking away.

Castle watched him leave, still on the ground, still laughing, before getting up and walking over to Kate's desk, looking left and right, before pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket and leaving it atop her growing pile of Valentines and strolling casually away.

Soon, there were no more Valentines to be handed out and Montgomery called everybody back to their seats to look through their cards while he handed out treats.

Kevin watched as Jenny read each card in turn, smiling at each one, then as she picked up his little pink heart. He smile dimmed a bit as she read, but then came back full force and she began looking around for the anonymous Valentine, but Kevin looked down at his own cards before she could catch him staring at her, a blush and a smile gracing his features.

Javier watched as Lanie read his card and giggled at the drawing on the front. She looked over at him and rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. She blew a kiss at him, causing Javi to blush and look down at his desk.

Kate picked up the little note on top of her pile of Valentines and read the sloppy handwriting (which she recognized as Castle's, immediately):

"It's really hard to rhyme;

Anyway, who's got the time?

But I just want you to see

How much you mean to me.

So I wrote you this poem in the hopes

That you would be my Valentine

(See, I told you it was hard to rhyme)."

Kate smiled at the poem and looked over at Castle, who was engrossed in his own cards, chuckling at a moving puppy in one of them.

Kate shook her head. The card was meant to be anonymous but Castle had obviously forgotten that she sat next to him every day and was now able to recognize his writing from a mile away.

Maybe she'd keep that little piece of information to herself for right now, though; let Castle think he'd fooled her.

Even if that poem was the sweetest thing she'd ever read.

**So, what did you think? Comments? Questions? Concerns? Praise? Leave it all in my REVIEWS!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello! Sorry it's taken so long to update this but I had NO idea what to do for March. Now, I do so here ya go! Enjoy!**

March-St. Patty's Day

On St. Patrick's day, even though she wasn't a bit Irish, Kate's mother dressed her all in green; green long sleeved shirt, green converse, even a pair of green denim jeans! And she painted a four-leaf clover on her cheek, making Kate giggle when she looked at herself in the mirror.

"I look funny," she laughed, looking up at her mother. Johanna smiled.

"You look _adorable_," she said, pinching Kate's un-clovered cheek. "Ready for school? Go grab your backpack." Kate nodded and ran to her room to gather her things.

When she arrived at school she was not the least bit surprised to find Castle standing there, talking to Javier and Kevin, and wearing a kilt. She shook her head as she walked up.

"Did Miss Rodgers _really_ let you wear that to school?" she asked as she came to stand next to him. Castle grinned and nodded.

"She says that it takes a real man to wear a kilt. _Besides_, it's St. Patrick's day and I'm one-quarter Irish," he said, proudly.

"And Kevin's 100% Irish, but he's not wearing a skirt."

Castle glared at her. "It's not a _skirt_! It's a _kilt!_"

Kate shrugged. "Poe-tay-toe, Pah-tah-toe. Same thing, Castle." Castle huffed and the boys giggled.

Both Kevin and Javier were dressed all in green. Since Javi, like Kate, wasn't at all Irish, all he had was a green shirt tucked into his jeans, but Kevin had on a full Irish get-up. He was wearing a pale green dress shirt under a dark green sweatervest, a white tie with a clover pattern, green corduroy pants, and green dress shoes. "Kevin, you look like a Leprechaun," Kate said, laughing. "So cute!"

Kevin pouted. "My mom made me wear this. She gave me a hat, too." He pointed to the green felt hat on his desk and Kate laughed; it really _did_ look like a Leprechaun's hat. "She goes a little overboard sometimes," Kevin explained to Castle, whose eyes had widened at the sight of the hat.

Just then, Lanie came up, wearing absolutely no green at all. Javi took that chance to pinch her arm.

"Ow!" she shouted. "Javi, what was that for?"

Javier shrugged. "You're not wearing any green," he said, by way of explanation. "It's St. Patty's day."

"So? I ain't Irish! And neither are you!" Lanie scolded, punching him in the arm. Javi yelped and jumped away from her. Kevin and Castle laughed and he glared at them. Kate just rolled her eyes and made her way to the couch to read for the last couple of minutes before school started. Lanie followed her, sending another glare at Javi as she rubbed her arm. She sat against the couch as Kate read. Javi looked at her with a frown.

"She really doesn't like me, does she?" he said, pouting.

"Why would she when you pinch her like that?" Kevin said. "Girls don't like to be pinched."

"How do _you_ know?" Javi asks, incredulously.

"I have two sisters," Kevin reminds him.

"Oh, yeah…well I have a sister!"

"Nita can't hold her head up on her own yet; I highly doubt she's been pinched by a boy. Unless you-"

"Never; Mama would kill me!"

"Well, now that that's settled," Castle interjected, "I think Mr. M is trying to get our attention." He pointed towards the front where it looked like Mr. Montgomery had just given up. Suddenly, he looked up, put two fingers between his lips and blew, nearly knocking out more than two dozen sets of eardrums with an ear-shattering whistle. Everybody looked up, wide-eyed.

"Now that I have your _attention_," he said, "Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone. Now, come take your seats so we can start our day."

Everybody began walking to their seats, chattering amongst themselves. Javi stood by Lanie's desk, toeing the ground, shyly. When she walked up, looking at him questioningly, with her hands on her hips, he took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry for pinching you," he apologized.

Lanie's face softened. "It's okay," she said, "I'm sorry for punching you. That must have hurt a lot more."

Javi absently rubbed his arm. "Yeah, you've got quite an arm…for a girl, anyway." Lanie raised a fist in warning and Javi put his hands up in surrender. "Kidding! Kidding!" He said, scurrying back to his seat, next to Ryan. Lanie giggled and took her seat, glancing back at him.

He was something else.

Meanwhile, Castle had sat down at his desk, surprising Kate by pulling on a cap that said, "Kiss me, I'm Irish!" Kate rolled her eyes as Castle wiggled his eyebrows at her, fighting back a smile. She shakes her head at him and he pouts, making her giggle. Kate decided to humor him and blew him a kiss from her palm. Castle pretended to catch it and smashed it to his lips.

"Mr. Castle, are you okay?" Montgomery asked him.

Castle's eyes widened and he blushed. "Um, yes sir, I'm okay."

Kate had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing.

**REVIEW!**

**P.S. So, I've decided that I'm not going to do **_**every**_** year. I'm just going to do the first year of each school. (AKA First grade in elementary school, 6****th**** grade in Middle School) And then I will do important moments in High School, then College. I might do a sequel to explore their adult lives with this start, but I have to know that that's what y'all wanna see. So leave me a REVIEW!**

**P.P.S: Should I put Ryan in Catholic school? Or should I keep him with everybody else?**


	9. Chapter 9

**Two more days til Christmas! Here's your early gift! Enjoy!**

**April-the April Fools baby**

When Kate arrived at school on the first April she was almost not surprised to see Castle there, talking to Kevin and Javier, wearing a Jester hat with bells.

Almost.

She walked up to where they were talking on the carpet and flicked one of Castle's bells. "What's with the hat?" she asked with a slight grin.

Castle smiled widely. "It's my birthday!" he announced.

Kate nodded. "Yeah, I know. Your mom invited us to your party this Saturday, remember? But that still doesn't explain the hat."

"Well, you see," Castle said, in his story voice, "Mom said that when I was born she used to call me her little April Fool, and when I was three she got me this hat so I would _really _be her April Fool. Get it? Because it's a Jester's hat!"

"And you're a fool?" Kate said with a smirk. "Yeah, I get it, Jingles."

"Ha ha, very funny," Castle deadpanned. He stuck his tongue out at her and she returned the motion.

"Mr. Castle, Miss Beckett, put those tongues back in your mouths before they are cut off," Montgomery warned, jokingly.

Castle and Kate obeyed. Castle turned back to Javi.

"So you got anything planned for April Fool's Day?" he asked, having heard Javi's stories about years past.

Javi grinned. "Yup!" he said. "I already got my Mama today. I put a fake spider on her chest while she was sleeping; you should have heard her screamin'!" Javi bent over in laughter.

"That's nothing!" Kevin said. "Lindsey, Megan, and I dragged Molly into the shower this morning and turned the cold water on her! She screamed so loud that she lost her voice!"

"This morning my mom got me pretty good," Castle supplied. "She made me a big breakfast for my birthday and while I was eating my pancakes she blew a blow horn and I fell over!" This made the boys fall over laughing and Kate began giggling. When they were settled down, all eyes turned to Kate for her story.

Kate shrugged. "I'm not into that whole pranking thing; it's kind of silly."

"_Ka-ate!_" Castle groaned. "That's the whole point! Nobody pranks anybody else to be _serious_!" He said "serious" as if it were a bad word. "You and I are gonna play a _huge_ prank today!" He decided.

"On who?" Kate asked.

"Uh…Jenny?" Castle suggested.

"Don't even think about it!" Kevin said. "You're not goin' anywhere _near_ Jenny! You got it?"

"Fine," Castle huffed. "Lanie then." Javier's death glare told him to pick somebody else. "Perlmutter?"

"That's better."

"Okay."

The boys spoke simultaneously. Nobody really liked Sidney Perlmutter; he was a know-it-all snob.

"So what's the prank, Castle?" Kate asked. Castle was surprised she was going along with this since she'd expressed her dislike for pranks. He said as much and Kate responded, "Yeah, well, Sidney ripped apart my Barbie last year because he said he was _dissecting_ it. Mom tried for three hours to fix it but it was no use. So I've decided this might be the best way to exact my revenge."

Castle's eyes widened. "Wow….Kate Beckett has a dark side."

"I have a lot more sides to me than you know, Castle," Kate deadpanned. "So, what's your plan?"

Castle looked at Javi and Kevin before motioning Kate to follow him. Once they were about twenty or so feet away, he whispered his plan in her ear. Kate's smile widened as she listened.

Sidney was sitting in his seat, doing the math assignment when the first part of the plan started.

Castle started shooting spit wads at the back of his head and every time Sidney turned around he acted like he was concentrated on his work. The third time he turned his head, Kate was walking up to the front to hand in her assignment and while his head was turned, she quickly shot one straight into his ear, successfully getting it lodged. She stashed the straw before either Sidney or Montgomery could see her and made her way back to her seat. Perlmutter stood and walked to the front of the class to seek the teacher's aide, while Castle stood and slipped a whoopee cushion onto his seat as he walked up to drop off his own paper. He quickly returned to his desk as three other students stood up and Perlmutter walked back to his seat, the spit wad successfully removed.

When he sat down on the whoopee cushion, it made a loud farting noise, which made several children giggle and Sidney blush. Castle and Kate high-fived under the table.

"Very funny," Sidney grumbled as he threw the prank into the trash. Montgomery hid his smile as he chastised the class.

Then it was time for lunch.

As they filed out, Castle snuck up behind Sidney and gently stuck a 'Kick Me' sign to his back, running away before he turned around.

For all of lunch, Perlmutter was kicked and he had no idea why. Meanwhile, Castle and Kate watched and laughed hysterically.

After lunch, the last part of their plan was to take place during their break. Castle had Kate write a love letter from Claire Monet, a little redhead in their class, to Sidney, confessing her love for him. The letter told him to come over to her and kiss her on the cheek if her liked her back. Claire was admittedly the prettiest girl in their class and it was no secret that Sidney thought so, as well. When he read the letter, he beamed and raced over to Claire, immediately kissing her cheek.

Claire, who had not, in fact, written the letter, was shocked and angered, slapping Sidney across the cheek and walking away. Sidney just stood there, perplexed, giving Castle enough time to slip another note onto his desk.

When Sidney read that, it only had six words on it, but they shocked and angered Sidney to no end:

"April Fools from the April Fool!"

**Sorry it's so very short but I'm tired and need sleep! REVIEWS!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Update!**

**May-Cinco De Mayo**

Martha's insistence that her son change the second he came into the kitchen that morning went unheard. Castle was determined to keep on the outfit he was wearing; a pair of jeans under a colorful knitted poncho and a sombrero (how he got these items, Martha had no idea).

"It's Cinco De Mayo!" he said, grinning, and, to Martha's horror, took out a maraca and shook it.

"Richard Alexander Rodgers," she warned, "you go right back to your room and change into something _decent_ and _appropriate_ or I'll call Nanny Elsa and she'll stay with you for the entire day while I'm at work. Now, go!"

Castle pouted and stomped back to him room, his fear and hate of Nanny Elsa greater than his holiday enthusiasm.

However, when he was dropped off at school and Martha had already disappeared from his sight, he reached into his backpack and pulled out the sombrero, plopping the wrinkling straw hat on his head and walking proudly into the school, his feet taking him automatically to room 147. As he entered, he saw Kate lying down on the couch while Javi and Kevin played with trucks. He walked up grinning goofily at his friends.

"Hey, guys!" He announced himself and three sets of eyes glanced at him and Kate and Kevin facepalmed, knowing what was about to come.

Javier stood up, a good four inches taller than Castle, his brown eyes darkening threateningly. "What the heck do you think you're wearing, Castle?" he asked, his voice low (as low as a seven-year old's voice can get, anyway) and threatening.

Castle gulped. "A…a sombrero?" he said, as if it were a question.

Javi narrowed his eyes. "Why?" he growled. "You don't _look_ Mexican."

"Um…well I….I, um…I _might _be. I mean, my dad could be; you never know…."

"But that still doesn't explain why you're wearing _that_," he pointed to the hat, "today of all days."

"Well….today is Cinco De Mayo…." Castle practically squeaked.

"AND THAT MAKES IT ALRIGHT?" Javier shouted in his face. Castle shrunk away from him, his face going pale. "Take. It. Off," he ordered and Castle slowly reached up and displaced the hat from his head, barely bringing it down before it was snatched out of his hands by Javi and brought right to the trash can. Kate and Kevin watched this, shaking their heads. They'd seen it done before with others who thought that the holiday was celebrated with sombreros and other stereotypical Mexican wear. It always ticked off Javier and this time was no different.

When he returned, he didn't say a single word. He just sat down by his truck and looked up at Kevin expectantly. Kevin plopped down next to him and they continued playing like nothing had happened. Kate went back to reading.

Castle stood there, confused.

"What just happened?"

**Sorry it's so short but I have two story ideas in mind (titled "The Nanny" and "Missed Moments" Both are AU.)**

**Anyway, REVIEW!**


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